We are very pleased to announce that Providence Health & Services in Washington has reached a resolution with Premera Blue Cross for renewal of its contract, which was set to expire at the end of this year.
The new three-year contract covers our eight Washington hospitals and all our employed and hospital-based physicians. The agreement will become effective January 1, 2009 and it runs through December 31, 2011.
“Getting to this agreement took a lot of hard work and dedication from both Providence and Premera and I know both sides are very thankful that we were able to reach a resolution that ensured there was no interruption in the contract,” said John Fletcher, Chief Executive of Providence Health & Services in Washington/Montana. “I’m also very pleased that we achieved a resolution that includes a commitment to work together to improve health care affordability. I strongly believe that it’s going to take this type of partnership between all of us in the health care system for there to be real improvement in reducing the cost of health care in our country.
“I want to thank all our physicians, patients and staff for their patience, support and feedback as we worked through this negotiation process,” said Fletcher. “We know it was difficult for all concerned, so we are very glad that we reached agreement so we continue providing services to our patients without any disruption.”
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